After taking on the equipment and resources of Burningtown-Iotla Fire and Rescue, Cowee Volunteer Fire and Rescue has taken on expenses that aren’t being paid for by the department's fire taxes.
CVFR Chief Dustin Pendergrass requested $75,000 at the April 14 Macon County Board of Commissioners meeting to cover some of the maintenance expenses the department took on in the process of taking over BIFR. Some of these expenses include:
- $15,911.47 and $18,000 for repairs to engines which were not passing pump tests.
- $23,098.80 to repair an improperly ventilated ceiling.
- $5,617 to replace apparatus tires that were not roadworthy.
- $13,073.82 to replace damaged rescue air bags and a control kit.
There were several other repairs or replacements to facility equipment or apparatus, including some rescue tools and vehicles that were inoperable.
Pendergrass said CVFR received a check from BIFD for $35,259.92 during the merger and that money was used to compensate the department for expenses it took on while responding to BIFD calls for more than a year as instructed by the county commissioners. Pendergrass estimated $35,638 as the department’s expenses covering calls during that 13-month period. The department requested a total of $75,934.09 (rounded down to $75,000) to fund these expenses.
“It didn’t come lightly for me to jump, run up here and ask you guys for money. I’m very proud of our board, our officers and our members. We take great pride in what we do,” Pendergrass said.
Commissioner John Shearl said, “Burningtown-Iotla fire department has collected millions of dollars with no evidence that there has been any maintenance, any new apparatus, any new equipment or anything. I make a recommendation that we have a forensic audit of [BIFR] for the last three to five years to see where this money went.”
“You don’t just have a roof that starts leaking at the spur of the moment … you don’t just have all this failing equipment,” he continued. “Somewhere along the line, I’m not saying anybody did anything wrong, but I think it’s worth investigating as to where this money went."
Pendergrass said all financial records were present when CVFR was able to access the building and the department could provide them to the county upon request if necessary.
Commissioner Barry Breeden said, “I just want to say thanks, I think you guys helped us out of a huge bind with that merger, and I think that the fire department, the fire service, the communities deserve to have operational equipment … for me, personally, I would support the $75,000 that you’re asking for.”
Commissioner Gary Shields wanted to know whether the county would be opening itself up to getting inundated with funding requests from all county fire departments. Young said he believed this was an unusual situation where the department took on these expenses only because of the takeover.
The board unanimously approved a motion from Shearl to make a budget amendment to cover $75,000 in expenses out of fund balance.
General update
Pendergrass said he didn’t want to approach commissioners to only give negative information, but to provide a general update on the status of the department and the transition of leadership as CVFR has taken on more members.
“So far we’ve taken on nine members from the existing department, three new members from the community have come out and joined since then, bringing our total membership of firefighters up to 76,” Pendergrass said. “We have six junior firefighters, one applicant from the Burningtown community just showed up this past Thursday. And we’ve got three more in the community that’s waiting to turn 14.”
“And I do want to add, the members that came to us from that organization, they are die-hard Burningtown community members, citizens. And it took a lot of nerve, a lot of courage … for them to walk through the door to that first Thursday night,” he said.
The department has added an additional full-time firefighter for a total of two and brought on eight part-time firefighters. Pendergrass said 2025 concluded with 526 calls and there have been 138 calls so far in 2026.
He said community involvement is good, with community members dropping by to visit the Burningtown station frequently and giving positive feedback. The CVFR board has added two new members to represent the Burningtown and Iotla communities, leaving the board with 14 members in total.